Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 1:56 AM ET

PNR max pain

Spot (delayed)$55.22
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$65+17.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.75±14.0% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.712K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$65largest put OI
IV3040.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $55

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 · FOMC decision Wed, Dec 9 · CPI release Thu, Dec 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$52.5-4.9%24d
Fri, Dec 18$55-0.4%52d
Fri, Jan 15$65+17.7%80d
Fri, Feb 19$60+8.7%115d
Fri, May 21$47.5-14.0%206d
Fri, Jan 21$55-0.4%451d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot65386389114140165$25M$0
■ put-side pain■ call-side painTotal payout option writers would owe at each settle price (both sides, all open interest, ×100 shares) — low settles hurt put writers, high settles hurt call writers. The minimum — 65 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot6537.552.567.582.597.5125614614
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PNR open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

Open-interest change: building vs unwinding

Needs two observed snapshot days for this expiration; the comparison appears automatically once the next weekday snapshot lands. We diff real observations only; nothing is estimated.

Volume by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot6537.552.567.582.597.5125100100
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot386389114140165135%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 37.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 5537.552.567.582.597.5125+$55K−$55K
Net dealer gamma per strike, in dollars per 1% move, assuming the standard convention (dealers long calls, short puts) — an assumption, not an observation. Above the amber flip level hedging tends to dampen moves; below it, to amplify them.

Greeks by strike · Fri, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.0137.50.00740.03-0.01-0.05
0.92-0.01400.01010.04-0.01-0.07
0.90-0.0142.50.01370.05-0.01-0.10
0.86-0.02450.01820.06-0.02-0.14
0.81-0.0247.50.02360.07-0.02-0.19
0.74-0.02500.02940.08-0.02-0.26
0.66-0.0252.50.03500.10-0.02-0.34
0.57-0.02550.03890.10-0.03-0.44
0.47-0.0257.50.04020.10-0.02-0.54
0.37-0.02600.03860.10-0.02-0.64
0.29-0.0262.50.03480.09-0.02-0.72
0.23-0.02650.03000.08-0.02-0.79
0.18-0.0267.50.02520.07-0.02-0.85
0.14-0.01700.02080.06-0.01-0.89
0.11-0.0172.50.01710.05-0.01-0.93

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 36 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot47.562.577.592.51151451K0
Call open interest per strike, stacked across the checked expirations — each color is one expiry. Strikes are pruned to the liquid center of each chain.

All expirations combined — total open interest

spot27.547.567.587.51151552K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 9K call contracts, 5K put contracts open.

Reading this honestly

Max pain is arithmetic, not prophecy: the settle price that would minimize what option writers pay out at expiration, computed from open interest alone. Prices sometimes gravitate toward heavy strikes into expiry — dealer hedging is a real flow — but the evidence that max pain predicts settlement better than chance is mixed, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Use it as a map of where positioning is stacked, next to the fundamentals and the earnings calendar, not as a target.

Data: Cboe delayed public feed (~15 minutes), refreshed here about every 15 minutes. Open interest itself updates once daily, before the open. Educational information, not investment advice.

Keep going: PNR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk